Track 2: Presentations Schedule

The tribology and lubrication industry is undergoing rapid transformation driven by currently four key trends: artificial intelligence (AI), advanced manufacturing, thermal management, and decarbonization. AI is accelerating materials discovery, lubricant development, and predictive maintenance through data-driven research, robotics, and digitalization. Manufacturing is increasingly adopting AI-powered analytics and real-time lubricant monitoring to improve productivity, reliability, and process control. Thermal management has become critical in electric vehicles, data centers, compressors, and metalworking applications, creating demand for advanced cooling and heat-transfer fluids. Decarbonization efforts are promoting renewable and biodegradable lubricants, extended lubricant life, additive replenishment strategies, and compatibility with alternative fuels such as hydrogen, ammonia, and e-fuels. Together, these trends are reshaping lubricant technology, improving efficiency, sustainability, and operational performance across industries.

Lubrication and Reliability have taken on a whole new meaning with new corporate responsibility to achieve “net zero” or “carbon neutrality” by 2035-50 and how as Tribologist or Reliability/Lubrication Engineers not only do we have to be good stewards of our environmental impact during the production process but also how to calculate and show the ROI on lowering production cost to keep the process profitable. Showing a ROI on upgrading to synthetics in your operation calculating out the lower energy cost with correct lubricant with a low coefficient of friction, extended drain intervals to free up time for staff to complete other proactive tasks, and expanded protection allowing your gearboxes to have a complete lifecycle of use and creating a high overall equipment efficiency.

The global AI market is projected to grow to $4.8 trillion by 2033, with nearly 90% of companies now using it in at least one business function. This presentation summarizes the AI section of the STLE 2026 Report on Emerging Issues and Trends in Tribology and Lubrication Engineering. A survey of 100 recently published papers found only three authors willing to share underlying data, illustrating why FAIR principles are a prerequisite for community-scale AI adoption in tribology. At Sandia National Laboratories, a robotic tribometer compressed one year of tribological testing into a single week. Northwestern’s megalibrary platform, encoding over 150 million nanoparticles, identified lubricant additives that reduced friction by 84% and wear by 81%. Standardized test procedures and data formats remain essential first steps.

Main hurdles when it comes to convincing customer to switch to fully electric vehicles are range anxiety, charging time and safety. Immersion Cooling, also known as direct liquid cooling, enables sustained High Power Charging (HPC) of more than 250 kW resulting in charging times as short as a conventional refueling process of an ICE car. At the same time, immersion cooling improves battery safety significantly and has the potential to prolong the life of the battery pack.
Insights into latest experiments showcasing the advantages of immersion cooling over conventional base plate cooling in terms of:
– Performance
– Safety
– Longevity

Rolling element bearings are key machine components that reduce friction, wear, and noise while guiding rotational motion. To maximize performance and broaden their use in complex designs, bearing behavior must be considered within the full mechanical system, including mechanical, thermal, electrical, and lubrication interactions. A holistic simulation platform with optimization modules and seamless software integration is essential to predict performance, define operational limits, and avoid over-engineering. This helps meet service-life targets without sacrificing efficiency. Although many commercial tools provide drivetrain insights, their bearing models often rely on public standards or simplified catalogue formulas and are not sufficient for advanced optimization. This presentation highlights recent developments in rolling element bearing simulation within the full machine context, enabling more reliable, efficient, and application-specific designs.

Here we present our development of oil-soluble ionic liquids (ILs) as a new class of anti-wear and friction-reducing additives for gear oils. Candidate ILs were added to oils at treat rates of 0.5-2 wt% and the oil-IL blends were benchmarked against commercial gear oils. The best-performing IL made a low-viscosity base oil significantly outperform a more viscous commercial gear oil in reducing the rolling contact fatigue (RCF) surface damage and associated vibration noise. This IL generated a thicker, smoother, and more homogeneous tribofilm compared with commercial additives. More recently, we have developed a new group of eco-friendly ILs as additives for environmentally acceptable lubricants (EALs). The IL-enhanced EALs demonstrated significantly improved lubricating performance, much lower toxicity, and increased biodegradability compared with commercial gear oils.

The rolling element bearing industry presents significant opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across both manufacture and in-service use. This presentation synthesizes cradle-to-gate manufacturing insights with operational energy-saving case studies to quantify and prioritize interventions that lower product carbon footprint (PCF). On the manufacturing side, we examine primary drivers of PCF and show how targeted choices can reduce cradle-to-gate emissions by up to ~30% for representative bearings. On the product-use side, we present validated results for energy-efficient bearing geometries demonstrating reduced frictional torque, lower power draw (up to 30% in lab tests), and cooler operating temperatures that translate into meaningful lifetime energy and CO2e savings for continuous-duty equipment. We integrate manufacturing and in-use perspectives to provide a framework for prioritizing decarbonization levers.

Metal Additive Manufacturing (AM) is simultaneously an emerging disruptor and a maturing industrial production method. While the industry has seen significant growth and market recalibration in recent years, the process technology itself has steadily strengthened its capabilities, finding strong use-cases in complex components and for high mix, low volume applications. However, a critical question remains: how is (or can) this technology impact the high-precision gear industry? This presentation will focus on laser powder bed fusion (PBF-LB) and will explore important aspects of the technology relative to its capabilities and its current technology limitations. Methods of mitigating these limitations with complementary processes will be presented accompanied by comparative material property data. Lastly, interesting, actual and potential use-cases including some gear and drivetrain applications will be presented.

This study evaluates the application of a large language model (LLM) for vibration analysis and condition monitoring of rotating equipment by comparing AI-generated results with expert-approved analyses. Seven industrial cases involving motors, pumps, and fans were analyzed using FFT vibration spectra provided in CSV format, along with machine speed and bearing or gear parameters when available. The LLM performed spectrum plotting, RMS velocity calculations, fault detection, and severity assessment based on ISO 10816 and 20816 standards. Detected faults included bearing defects, imbalance, soft foot, and flow-induced vibration. Results showed strong compatibility between the LLM outputs and expert evaluations, demonstrating that LLMs can effectively support vibration spectrum interpretation, severity assessment, and preliminary fault diagnosis when accurate machine and bearing data are provided.

Advancements in digital transformation technologies are rapidly reshaping the future of manufacturing, enabling new levels of autonomy, intelligence, and efficiency across the production lifecycle. This presentation session presents a practical pathway toward autonomous manufacturing by demonstrating the combined value of the digital twin, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML) within real industrial environments. Through a demonstration use case, the session illustrates how real‑time data and AI‑driven decision systems can fundamentally improve precision, reduce programming effort, and significantly lower operational costs. This presentation will focus on continuous manufacturing improvement through data‑driven intelligence, and a multi‑tool analytical approach will be demonstrated that allows the system to determine why deviations occur, quantify their sources, and execute precise corrective actions in real time.

Laser Powder-Directed Energy Deposition (LP-DED) offers promise for repair in gear applications where downtime and replacement costs are significant. However, the adoption of LP-DED in gear manufacturing remains limited due to insufficient data regarding reliability of LP-DED-produced gears. This study investigates the application of LP-DED for gear repair and manufacturing. Building upon prior work presented at the 2025 MPMA Fall Technical Meeting, this work extends the analysis by examining the influence of heat treatment on LP-DED fabricated Dievar gear teeth. Heat treatment has significantly enhanced material behavior, increasing ductility from ~0% to ~20% and impact toughness from ~26 J to ~110 J. Bending fatigue testing is conducted to generate S–N curves for three conditions: as-built LP-DED, heat-treated LP-DED, and conventionally manufactured gears.

Synthetic fluorinated Metalworking Fluids (MWF) can significantly improve machining of refractory and high-temperature alloys used in gear and bearing applications across aerospace, defense, energy, automotive, and medical markets. These alloys offer exceptional heat resistance and durability but are expensive and difficult to machine, often causing rapid tool wear, slow throughput, and poor surface quality. New data from multiple U.S. National Laboratories, universities, and industry partners, show that Halocarbon’s fluorinated MWFs increase efficiency, extend tool life, improve surface finish, and reduce total system cost versus conventional fluids. Additional analysis of chip formation, cutting forces, and surface effects provides insight into the mechanisms behind these performance gains.

Friction is a major source of efficiency losses and wear in drivetrain systems, yet industrial simulations often rely on separate component-specific models for bearings, gears, and other machine elements. This presentation demonstrates a unified friction modeling framework for drivetrain simulation workflows. The approach is based on fundamental contact properties such as geometry, material data, local pressure, sliding velocity, shear stress, and lubricant film thickness, while component-specific information is introduced through standardized interfaces. Its integration into the FVA-Workbench shows how locally resolved friction, wear-related, temperature, and energy quantities can be evaluated consistently across components. By replacing multiple specialized models with one coherent methodology, the framework reduces model complexity and supports robust system-level optimization of efficient drivetrains.

REWITEC is a developer and manufacturer of an innovative phyllosilicate-based surface treatment additive technology for gears and bearings and combustion engines. The particles with a platelet shape use lubricants as a carrier and build through their adsorption a protective phyllosilicate-based coating on the surface. The modified surface has a significantly lower surface roughness, which ensures a better load distribution and lower local pressure. Additionally, due to the special layered material structure the particles can be sheared in the tribological contact, which leads to a significant reduction in friction. All in all, when applying the products, treated systems can run better with reduced friction, wear, surface roughness and temperature. These effects lead to higher efficiency, great reliability and longer lifetime.

Extreme-pressure (EP) additives are widely used in lubricants to enhance component durability under severe tribological conditions. Their performance is primarily derived from the formation of protective tribochemical films on metal surfaces during the operating conditions. However, EP additives have inherent limitations, including temperature-dependent effectiveness and susceptibility to thermo-oxidative degradation during service. In this work, the performance of several EP additives is evaluated using relevant bench-scale tribological tests, with particular emphasis on the formation, stability, and function of the resulting tribochemical films. The relationship between additive chemistry, operating conditions, and surface protection mechanisms is discussed. 

During operation, all machines experience particles in oil from ingression or generated when changes occur e.g. speed, load, or oil pressure changes. Already captured particles may be released from filters due to pressure pulses. Keeping up is essential, so different filter technologies are combined. Filters should have good efficiencies, not just initially, but also at the end of their life. Often focus is on initial particle removal efficiency (Multi-pass test) but seldom after months in operation. Resent tests have documented that most oil filters will have reduced efficiency over their life – some critical low efficiency, which means your oil system will continue to get more contaminated and machine life will be harmed. This presentation will explain the tests and show cases.

High performance polymers have attracted increasing interest for tribological applications due to high operational temperatures combined with high strength, wear resistance and low coefficient of friction. Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) provides a unique combination of mechanical properties, resistance to chemicals, wear, fatigue and creep as well as exceptionally high temperature resistance. Evonik offers several molding compounds that have been used for high-performance gears for years. The appropriate modification with additives leads to improved tribological properties of polymeric materials. Evonik’s VESTAKEEP® results in screening and gear rig tests are shown. Dry running and lubricated plastic gear S/N curves and wear coefficient data as well as effects of different test parameters are discussed.

There are many industries that require proper lubrication throughout extreme conditions.  During high speed and pumping actions, foam and air entrainment can develop. This phenomenon can cause problems with thermal transfer, dielectric-constant changes and reduced hydrodynamic lubrication.  It is within these scenarios that hydraulics, immersion cooling pumps and Electric Vehicle (EV) drivetrains can be negatively impacted. The conditions within those EV drivetrains are fundamentally different when compared to traditional internal combustion engines (ICE), which has led to new requirements for lubricant and fluid test protocols.  Work at the Savant Group, in conjunction with OEMs and lubricant formulators, has led to the development of novel test methodologies to help evaluate and resolve these issues.

Rolling-element bearing life is traditionally predicted using ISO 281:2007, which calculates basic dynamic load rating and modified rating life accounting for reliability, lubrication, contamination, and fatigue load. However, it ignores real-world factors like misalignment, internal clearances, and possibility of dissimilar raceway and rolling element materials. The new ISO 16281:2025 standard resolves these limitations by providing procedures to calculate modified reference rating life for universally loaded bearings. It computes detailed load distributions for cylindrical, tapered, spherical, and hybrid bearings, significantly improving life prediction fidelity. This presentation reviews both standards, highlighting their differences and foundational assumptions. It explains how ISO 16281:2025 model’s critical effects on contact stress and fatigue life, offering practical guidance to help attendees improve bearing selection and reliability assessment in modern engineering applications.

In Marine Applications, drive trains with multiple inputs are common, for example with multiple Internal Combustion Engines. A newer development is to multiple electrical motors. This paper will present a Multi-Motor Drive Train designed for a Wind Turbine Test Rig. Using a model-based approach with multiple variable parameters, the installation space of different concepts was evaluated. The result is a concept with 12 electric motors rated for 2.9 MW each. Each of the motors is connected to a gear box cartridge driving a pinion, which meshes with a large bull gear. During operation, dynamic load changes are required. To reduce negative effects of the gearbox backlash, a control algorithm was developed to prevent “gear hammering”; this significantly limits torque peaks that would occur otherwise.

Industries are adopting continuous condition monitoring to shift from preventive to predictive maintenance. Bearings—critical components in rotary machinery—are commonly monitored using vibration signals because of their low cost and ease of implementation. A key challenge is choosing reliable analysis methods across operating conditions. This study evaluates time‑domain metrics, narrow‑band spectral analysis, and high‑frequency envelope analysis using vibration data from full bearing life cycles and controlled defects. Among the time‑domain metrics examined, RMS, crest factor, and kurtosis rise rapidly with fault progression, while skewness shows no consistent correlation. Undamaged bearings typically have kurtosis below 3; values above about 3.5 indicate likely damage. This work also identifies characteristic spectral signatures of different bearing components and provides practical guidance for selecting vibration techniques to improve early damage detection.

Radial Shaft Seals (RSS) are critical components to seal technical applications and are increasingly challenged with high circumferential speeds. In many innovative applications, e.g. withing the automotive industry and drive technology, high speeds are necessary to meet performance requirements. High circumferential speeds increase tribological and thermal challenges, potentially leading to reduced sealing performance and shortened system lifetime. Therefore, this paper evaluates possible modifications to optimize the RSS-system, such as adjusting the radial load and selecting suitable elastomer materials. Using model-based approaches, contact temperatures are estimated and experimentally validated to prove the effectiveness of the modifications.

The generation of ferrous debris is often one of the earliest indicators of abnormal wear or impending failure in a fluid system. As a result, in-situ monitoring of metallic debris has become an important tool for predictive maintenance and condition-based monitoring of critical equipment.
This presentation will review current approaches for detecting ferrous debris within lubricated systems. Technologies include magnetic chip detectors, inductive debris sensors, capacitive sensors, optical particle counters, and magnetic field distortion based sensors such as KasperAero’s NZMS sensor. The presentation will compare the operating principles, performance characteristics, and practical deployment considerations of these technologies, and discuss how next-generation debris monitoring sensors may expand the capabilities of in-situ condition monitoring across industrial and aerospace applications.

Six lessons learned are presented. 1. It is desirable to have one common compound gear, instead of multiple in compound rotary actuators. 2. When the clocking angle between 2 gears on compound gears is small, correct installations cannot be easily verified. 3. Depending on the relative position of the worm to the wheel, installations can be very confusing. 4. The highest stress may not be at the loaded tooth, due to backiron bending in internal ring gears. 5. Incorrect formula for symmetric assembly from compound planetary gears may be mistakenly used on spur gear differentials. 6. The thrust loads in most straight bevel gears do not change direction. However, for Zerol bevel gears, the direction of thrust load may change under certain conditions.

It has been shown that the presence of embedded inclusions in engineered materials made from gear and bearing steels have been the cause of many catastrophic fatigue failures. ASTM E 2283 provides a practical method to predict maximum inclusion sizes using extreme value statistics derived from sample data. These predictions can be further evaluated with the Murakami model to estimate fatigue strength. This presentation reviews the current state of the art in inclusion detection and examines how inclusion size and density influence fatigue performance in common gear and bearing steels. It also proposes inclusion limits and relates them to allowable strength levels.

The dresser‑independent profile‑modification (DIP) process is a novel dressing and generating grinding method that enables flexible production of gear profile modifications without dedicated dressing tools. Conventional methods – line dressing and profile dressing – either limit flexibility or increase dressing time and tooling cost. The proposed approach decouples profile generation from dresser geometry, allowing modifications such as tip/root relief and crowning to be generated directly during grinding using standardized profile rollers. This simplifies setup, reduces risk of grinding burn, and supports a “first part = good part” outcome. Compared to line dressing, the process significantly reduces dressing time and tooling costs, making it particularly suitable for job shops, prototyping, and small batch production. Application examples and process principles are presented.

Gas nitriding is critical for enhancing component fatigue strength and wear resistance, but managing the brittle compound (white) layer is essential to prevent microspalling and grinding complications. This work introduces a novel nitriding method featuring in-furnace ammonia dissociation technology with integrated hydrogen monitoring. By eliminating the need for an external dissociator, this approach reduces gas consumption, lowers energy usage, and simplifies infrastructure while fully complying with AMS 2759/6 standards. Test results demonstrate that this process-integrated system provides precise control over compound-layer morphology and ensures consistent metallurgical outcomes across batches. The enhanced atmosphere stability delivers tight process repeatability, improved operational efficiency, and reliable conformance to strict aerospace, automotive, and industrial specifications.

High temperature solution nitriding (HTSN) of stainless steel, developed in the 1990s, is a high temperature surface engineering process in which stainless steel is exposed to a clean, controlled N₂ atmosphere at approximately 1050–1200 °C. At these temperatures, N₂ becomes reactive and forms a case of nitrogen enriched austenite. An important step in HTSN is high pressure gas quenching, required to avoid Cr₂N formation during cooling. Most stainless steel classes can be treated; depending on composition, the case may form as nitrogen enriched austenite or nitrogen enriched martensite, the latter serving as a stainless analogue to classical carburizing. This presentation outlines HTSN with emphasis on ferritic and martensitic grades, highlighting deep hardened cases, maintained corrosion resistance, beneficial compressive stresses, and a published wind turbine study.

In the design and manufacturing of bearings and gears, surface textures play a vital role in determining component performance whether the surfaces interact in hertzian contact, have opposing sliding surfaces, or are positioned stationary against each other (i.e. fretting). Specifications detailed on an engineering print are used to communicate the design intent to manufacturing whether it is contained inside a business or extends through the supply chain. In the U.S., the governing standard on specifying and certifying surface textures is ANSI/ASME B46.1-2019. The ISO GPS (Geometrical Product Specification) 21920:2021 is being adopted by countries outside the U.S. This presentation unwraps B46.1-2019 and ISO 21920:2021 and walks through the fundamental similarities and differences relevant to bearing and gears.

Shot peening is a cold working process that enhances the mechanical properties of components such as springs, bearings, axles, and gears. Small particles, called shot media, are projected at a high velocity against the material’s surface, creating a layer of compressive residual stress that improves fatigue and wear resistance of the material. For this process to be successful, it is critical to characterize and control the particle size and shape distribution of the shot media. The size and shape of the media impact the consistency and depth of the compressive residual stress layer that is created. This paper presents how the use of a dynamic imaging system can provide the size and shape measurements that are necessary for an efficient shot peening process.